April 10, 2020 Good Friday
From Alpha to Omega, El Shaddai to Prince of Peace, the many names of God highlight His attributes, each lighting up a facet of who He is. I am inspired by how many pairs of them stand in stark contrast to each other! God is the Lord and the Servant. God is the Shepherd and the Lamb.
Scripture refers to God or Jesus as a lamb numerous times throughout the Old and New Testaments.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” — John 1:29
[You were redeemed] with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. — 1 Peter 1:19
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. — Isaiah 53:7
They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. — Revelation 7:15, Revelation 7:17
Can it be that the Creator of all the galaxies was also named the Lamb? The gentle creature of whom the poet asked:
Little lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead,
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Little lamb, I’ll tell thee,
Little lamb, I’ll tell thee.
He is called by thy name,
For He calls Himself a Lamb.
He is meek, and He is mild,
He became a little child.
I a child, and thou a lamb,
We are called by His name.
Little lamb, God bless thee!
Little lamb, God bless thee!
-William Blake, Songs of Innocence
The lamb, even today, symbolizes innocence and purity. Only a pure unblemished lamb could be a sacrifice. A spotted lamb was not acceptable. The sacrificial lamb could not have any flaw or deformity. It could not harbor a parasite or suffer from any ailment. It had to be the firstborn of its mother.
The offering of a lamb had to be from an obedient heart in order to be acceptable. This was true of the very first offering mentioned in Scripture – Abel’s offering of a lamb from his flock (Genesis 4) – and continues to be true for every offering thereafter. King Saul’s proposed offering was rejected because he had been disobedient (1 Samuel 15). He was told
To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. — 1 Samuel 15:22
The offering of the Lamb was an offering of obedience. The writer of Hebrews says of Christ, the Lamb,
Although He was a son, He learned obedience from what He suffered. — Hebrews 5:8
For the offering to be complete, the blood of the Lamb had to be shed.
And without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
— Hebrews 9:22
All the animals sacrificed in the time of the Old Testament were object lessons, pointing toward the One sufficient, worthy sacrifice. We celebrate today because of the ultimate sacrifice that was made on what we call Good Friday. Because all of us have sinned, the only One who could provide an acceptable sacrifice was God himself. Abraham was more right than he knew when he told Isaac,
God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.
— Genesis 22:8
God’s lamb, holy, pure, perfect, and altogether worthy, shed His blood as an offering to atone for our sins. For us, the Creator of the galaxies became a Child, who became the Lamb of God.
The wonder is that “we are called by His name”! What does it mean for me, today, that I am called a child of God through faith in the person and work of Jesus, the Lamb of God?
Rev 5:9-10, 12
9… You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
10 "You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth."
12 Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!
Worthy Lamb of God, receive our praise and gratitude today for Your great sacrifice on our behalf.
Adapted from All the Glorious Names by Mary Foxwell Loeks.
Tonight the Lawson, Riggs, Workman families will share an online 3-Fold Communion. I will teach about the ministries of Christ to us – “future, present, and past” – and we will all share in our separate homes, the bread and cup. Some may never have experienced this wonderful blessing of intimacy with Christ. If possible I encourage all of you to contemplate Jesus and His ministry toward you.
Past ministry of Jesus – your justification (when you believe in Jesus and become His follower you are declared righteous). We celebrate by partaking of the bread and cup,
His present ministry - your sanctification – (growing to be more like Christ day by day – promised in the Scriptures to take place for every true believer…we celebrate by washing one another’s feet as Jesus did His disciples), though completely forgiven for all sin, we continue to battle with our earthly desires and need to confess our sin and pursue the righteousness of Christ, “Be holy for I am Holy”. He also, in washing His disciples feet, gave us the example of being a servant leader. If you want to be great in the kingdom of God, you need to be a servant. If you want to be first, you need to be the servant of all. He is our high priest, ever serving as the mediator between God and man.
His future ministry - your glorification. One day we will be made perfect, whole, SINLESS, prepared for eternity with Him. We often think of the marriage supper of the Lamb where His bride, the church, will share in a wedding feast. We also should think of the saints of all time who will be together forever with Christ and think of the love and joy we have together in Christ even now!
Blessing on this, Good Friday…the worst of days and the best of days for those who place their hope in the Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Pastor Dale